The global recession continues to create new realities for students, institutions, and faculty members engaged in higher education. This blog chronicles those changes for academic / historical record purposes. Click on the URL at the end of each posting to view the complete news report.

Saturday, February 14, 2015

As shown in a photo accompanying this story, Walker’s budget deletes a number of phrases contained in the statute. Among the statements that are removed: "Extend knowledge and its application beyond the boundaries of its campuses"; and "Basic to every purpose of the system is the search for truth." With some added language, the edits to the language emphasized the mission should be to "meet the state’s workforce needs." Walker’s "drafting-error" explanation suggests the rewriting of the UW System's mission was some kind of mistake -- changes made inadvertently. Walker’s spokeswoman told us the governor had learned shortly before sending his tweet that "there was a miscommunication during the back and forth of the budget process." But the evidence indicates the changes to the Wisconsin Idea language were intentional.
http://www.politifact.com/wisconsin/statements/2015/feb/06/scott-walker/despite-deliberate-actions-scott-walker-calls-chan/